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Italy: Fascist Period Architecture in Rome

October 9, 2023October 9, 2023 JWF Leave a comment

This morning the Chief Penguin and I had a guided tour of some of the architecture of the Fascist period in Rome, ranging from a post office to train stations to the grand buildings of the EUR area. This is architecture from Benito Mussolini’s time in power, roughly 1922 to 1942. Our guide, Liz, a transplanted American, married to a Roman, has lived in Rome for 33 years. An architect focusing on historic preservation, she was knowledgeable and friendly and easy to engage with questions.

Our first stop was a striking post office building in the Testaccio area from 1924. Designed in the Rationalist style, it looks strikingly modern, especially compared to the nearby ornate, castle-like firehouse built the same year.

The interior was equally majestic with curves and pendant lights. What looked strange was the rows of chairs with people waiting to be served. You take a number (and perhaps a seat), just like in the DMV offices in some U.S. cities!

We also checked out an early train station that took folks from Rome to the beach in Lido on the Tyrrhenian Sea. With regular train service, the Lido community greatly expanded in size. From the outside, this station looks quite simple. Inside is another matter entirely with some lovely sculptural scenes on the stone.

Next we visited the voluminous Roma Ostiense train station built in 1938 and designed to commemorate an upcoming visit from Adolf Hitler. Part of the façade is pushed out to allow a hidden space for a car to arrive (carrying an illustrious visitor) and for the dignitary to exit and immediately enter an elaborate presidential room. Unfortunately, that room is reserved for special functions only and not open to the public.

We were able to appreciate the many black and white mosaics on the floor portraying historic events along with bas reliefs on the exterior walls. Also inside were two large rectangular panels of lovely green marble on each end wall, one with an eagle on it

The metro wasn’t running today, due to a strike, which gave us a few transportation challenges for the second part of the tour. After some delay, we three did get a cab to the southern edge of Rome to the EUR district. Named after the planned 1942 Esposizione Universale di Roma (EUR), which never happened because of the war, it includes a number of monumental buildings designed under Mussolini’s regime to showcase the grandeur of Italy to the world.

Probably the one we found the most stunning was the Palazzo della Civilta Italiana, informally known as the “Square Colosseum,” with its many arches within arches and its sheer size on its long raised base. Classic sculptures of Romulus and Remus flank either end in addition to two bronze pieces, one a pyramid shape and part of a special exhibit.

Since the world exposition didn’t occur, other buildings didn’t get built, and this one never was used for its original purpose. Somewhat ironically, I’d say, today it is the headquarters of Fendi, the Italian fashion designers. Usually, the public can enter this building, but not today!

This tour was a fascinating way to spend the morning, and we both learned a lot and enjoyed it!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

France: Onward to Carcassonne

October 19, 2022October 19, 2022 JWF 1 Comment

SPECIAL DINNER AT LA BELLE DEMEURE

On our last night with Richard and Philippe, they served us a marvelous dinner on the terrace. We began with Philippe’s homemade walnut wine as an aperitif. First course was a delicate medallion of foie gras terrine with some homemade onion jam.

This was followed by a beef daube along with panfried broccoli finished with sesame oil. Dessert was a piece of walnut cake and a slice of walnut ice cream, both homemade, of course.

The food was all delicious, but even better, we had a wide-ranging conversation with our hosts. So much so, we felt like we had made new friends.

GETTING TO CARCASSONNE

The drive to Carcassonne was projected to take around 3 hours with most of the trip on the super highway. The first hour was typical French countryside over, around, and up on narrow one-lane roads. Pretty, but the Chief Penguin was glad we were the only car around. Ultimately, we joined A20 and began to concentrate on keeping the gas tank filled. Today was a General Strike day all over France, so some businesses were closed and no trains or mass transit were running.

On the plus side, service areas on French highways are numerous and fairly closely spaced. There are “aires” that are what we in the U.S. would call rest areas with parking and usually restrooms. Interspersed with those are other aires which have a gas station and coffee shop and sometimes also a restaurant. On the negative side, a few aires were totally closed (there was messaging ahead on the electronic signboard), and many were under construction.

The roads in these aires loop around like spaghetti, and the signage is not always clear. The first time we stopped for gas, there was so much construction we couldn’t easily get to the pumps, another time we missed the internal turn for the restaurant and didn’t like the food offered at the gas station. Finally we settled on an aire where we surrendered to a small salad bar with quite a choice of ingredients. We ate outside at a high tables with stools. Lunch accomplished.

CARCASSONNE

Several miles before you reach the old city of Carcassonne (La Cite’), it looms up looking perfectly put together, yet out of place. A bit like something you’d expect in Dungeons and Dragons. We parked just outside the walls and began our exploration. I first heard about Carcassonne, this famous medieval city, in one of my high school French classes. It was part of a sentence we learned for vocabulary, and ever since, I’ve wanted to visit it.

Outer wall of Carcassonne seen from inside

The height of the outer walls, the bridge over the empty moat, and the large, now open, gate are almost overwhelming in their size. Inside, the streets are narrow and wind around, with stores, restaurants, and an uncountable number of ice cream parlors. Normally, you can pay to enter the chateau and access the ramparts, but it was closed due to the strike.

The chateau and the cathedral dominate the city. Churches never close, though, and we were able to go into the cathedral, Basilique Saint-Nazaire. I was impressed by its height and very much liked the rich purples and reds of the stained glass.

DINNER IN CARCASSONNE

Carcassonne in the evening was quiet except for the open restaurants and cafes. The tour groups and the lively students had all retreated. We debated where to have dinner and compromised on Le Jardin de la Tour. The Chief Penguin was very enthusiastic about his panfried cepes (it’s the season for these mushrooms), and equally pleased with the cassoulet he ordered. Cassoulet, a stew of white beans cooked with duck and pork, is the dish in this region and appears on almost every menu.

I ordered cold salmon crumble with avocado which was a mound of raw salmon on avocado purée topped with crumbs and served with a green salad. A different taste experience. For my main, I had a pasta dish heavy on the Parmesan cheese with some small shrimps on it. I had been craving pasta or something different from all the fish I’ve consumed.

The excuse was we’ll never be in Carcassonne again, so dessert was a plate of profiteroles for the CP and some strawberry and citron sorbet for me. A good dinner in a medieval dining hall.

OUR B&B

This B&B, Le Jardin de la Cite, has a prime location just a short distance beyond Caracassone’s walls. We left the car here and walked into old Carcassone in the evening. That took all of about 5-7 minutes.

Our host, Daniele’s property is lovely with a single story house, pool and nice lawn, and a casita with two rooms where we stayed. She is retiring the end of the week to spend more time with family in Spain and do other things. We are some of her last guests.

For breakfast, she provided an attractive buffet of croissants, muffins, some sliced ham, cheese, and dishes of fresh fruit. The Chief Penguin thought the coffee was especially good. During the summer when the B&B was full, she had 12 guests.

Note: Photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header image is Carcassone at night from outside the walls.

Dublin Potpourri

June 17, 2022June 17, 2022 JWF 3 Comments

We were on our own our last full day in Dublin and mostly wandered around. We checked out the very complete Dubray bookshop, had a lovely wine, cheese and charcuterie lunch, spent some more time in a very populated St. Stephen’s Green Park, and then topped it all off with a superb dinner at Pichet.

Most of the bridges that span the Liffey River are of a more conventional design or delicate like the lacy arched one with lantern lights and the occasional seagull atop it. Bolder and dramatic is the Samuel Beckett Bridge near the convention center. I just loved this bridge when we crossed it coming into town, and this time we walked across it. I photographed it from multiple angles. It was designed by Spanish architect and engineer, Santiago Calatrava, and opened in December 2009.

Speaking of seagulls, Dublin makes me think of Portland, Maine. When walking down a busy street, you can hear the seagulls’ distinctive honk, seemingly no where near the nearby water. Even in the parks, there are few pigeons, but many seagulls. The variety here are plumply white and much more elegant than pigeons.

Several years ago, we watched a legal drama series called Striking Out. We were struck by the opening footage of a tall red poles in front of a contemporary building on the edge of the water. This scene in Dublin was shot at the Grand Canal Dock and the reddish poles are on a plaza in front of Bord Gail’s Energy Theatre. On foot, we set out to find the place and we did!

The poles are not all red now, but slightly faded, yet still stunning. This plaza with poles was designed by Martha Schwartz, an American landscape architect, whose firm of the same name has offices in London, New York, and Shanghai. This whole dock lands area was re-developed in the early 2000’s.

As to food, we had the perfect lunch at Fallon & Byrne’s Wine Cellar. With a food hall on the main floor, the cellar below, and a full restaurant on the upper level, it’s a place for every taste.

Dinner was at Pichet, contemporary Irish cuisine with a French twist. We had two courses each with luscious lamb as the Chief Penguin’s entree and roast cod with sauce verge mine. The presentations were beautiful and each bite delectable. My favorite dish of the meal was the torched heirloom tomatoes on gazpacho.

Given that Dublin is a city known for its famous writers, it seems appropriate to end with this expressive bust of James Joyce.

James Joyce bust, St. Stephen’s Green Park

Experiencing Savannah: Squares & Art

February 29, 2020February 29, 2020 JWF Leave a comment

We met friends in Savannah and enjoyed four days of exploring this very walkable city. It is one of the most pedestrian-friendly small cities I’ve ever visited. Our hotel in the historic district was centrally located between the river to the north and Forsyth Park to the south. Neither was more than a 15 to 20-minute walk and we walked everywhere, despite some rainy and then cold weather! There are several trolley firms offering hop on, hop off tours which we considered doing but never did.

SAVANNAH SQUARES

Founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe who founded the colony of Georgia, Savannah teems with history and is made beautiful by its many historic squares. Today there are 22 squares created in the 18th and 19th centuries, and each is an oasis of calm with live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, benches on which to contemplate the world, and usually a monument or a statue of a famous person from Oglethorpe himself in Chippewa Square to John Wesley near the mother church of Methodism.

In addition, camellia bushes and azaleas, an early blooming flush of pink, provide color. Dotted around the squares are a number of historic churches, more elegant architecture, including the Independent Presbyterian Church with a layered green spire atop its steeple.

Savannah’s city hall has a prominent golden dome, a beacon in the sky as one approaches the river.

RIVER WALK

Savannah’s riverfront is crammed with seafood restaurants and small shops and the once important centers of commerce, the Savannah Cotton Exchange and Factors Row. We found this section somewhat touristy, but enjoyed our saunter along the river promenade where you can catch a ferry across to the convention center or just stop to peruse the panels about Savannah’s maritime history.

We watched a colorful container ship come into port and then walked almost to the end of the promenade to see The Waving Girl. Florence Martus waved her handkerchief to each arriving and departing ship for many decades.

ART MUSEUMS

For us, no visit to a city is complete without checking out a local museum. Here we visited two art museums. The Jepson Center is a stunning piece of architecture, very contemporary and not at all like any of the surrounding buildings. It’s located on Telfair Square and is one of the three Telfair Museums.

The building has lots of glass and the lobby and skylights make for interesting patterns on the lobby floor and walls. The hanging installation by artist Katherine Sandoz adds color and whimsy. Two exhibits, “Machines of Futility: Unproductive Technologies” and a highly interactive one on nature and art, highlighted communication and climate change.

The Chief Penguin and I were surprised and then delighted when we put on 3-D goggles and watched “Immerse” to see the very familiar coral reef tank at the California Academy of Sciences. This was our work venue for seven years and immediately we were transported back in time—and space! We then learned that Steven High, director of our local Ringling Museum of Art, served there as director for several years. Small, small world!

We also visited the Telfair Museum of Art, the oldest art museum in the South, which was built in 1818-1819 as the mansion home for members of the Telfair family. On the docent tour, we learned about the architecture and that this family had several plantations and owned more than 600 slaves. The surviving member of the family, Mary Telfair, willed the house to the Georgia Historical Society expressly to become a museum.

It opened in 1886 as the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences and for some years was a teaching institution as well as an exhibitor. The art collection is small, but there were some interesting pieces including the sculpture, The Bird Girl, related to the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and a special exhibit called “Savannah Faces” by more contemporary artists.

Savannah also has a museum devoted to Prohibition and several house museums including the home of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts. All diversions for another trip.

For details on where we ate on this foray, see my next blog.

Category: Architecture

Italy: Fascist Period Architecture in Rome

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France: Onward to Carcassonne

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Dublin Potpourri

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Experiencing Savannah: Squares & Art

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